1. Field
The present invention relates to a front fork.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wheels of a motorcycle are coupled to a main body via a suspension. For example, a front fork is interposed between a front wheel and a main body of the motorcycle. For such a front fork, it may be desirable that a stroke amount of the front fork, as a distance between extension and compression of the front fork, be detected in order to, for example, determine a traveling state of the motorcycle.
Some stroke sensors that detect the stroke amount of the front fork are, for example, installed outside the front fork (for example, see JP-H06-263078-A). Such a stroke sensor, installed outside the front fork, may be damaged by external contact or malicious tampering. Thus, the stroke sensor is desirably provided inside the front fork.
However, when the stroke sensor is provided inside the front fork, a space is needed in which the stroke sensor is arranged. Furthermore, if, along with the stroke sensor, a damping force variable device is provided which adjusts a damping force by controlling a flow of oil contained in the front fork, for example, the stroke sensor and the damping force variable device may disadvantageously interfere with each other.